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NEW YORK, NY-- Jean Marie Faircloth MacArthur died in New York at Lenox Hill Hospital 22 Jan. at age 101. She was the widow of General Douglas MacArthur, of World War II and Korean War fame.
Jean was born 28 Dec 1898 in Nashville, Tennessee, the daughter of Edward Cameron Faircloth and Sarah Beard. She was a granddaughter of Constans Faircloth and Elizabeth Cameron.
Jean's parents were divorced when she was a child and her mother moved to her parent's home in Murfreesboro, Tn. where Jean grew up. After she completed college, Jean embarked upon an ocean cruise to China in 1935. On board, she was seated at the table with General Douglas MacArthur. He later sent her flowers the next day and a shipboard romance began. "That was that," she later said.
She got off ship in Manila, the capitol of The Philippines and ended up staying for 1 1/2 years as their romance grew. They were later married in New York in a quiet ceremony 20 Apr., 1937.
Jean was at her husband's side in both war and peace. She became the General's "First Lady" as he oversaw the Philippines Army prior to World War II. The couple entertained only at noon dinner and rarely had guests in the evenings. They often had private movie showings in the evenings.
Despite her husband's status, she patiently waited in line at Army stores and commissaries, not asking any special privileges.
When the Japs staged their sneak attack upon the United States and all its Pacific territories during the war, she was again at his side. When the general was ordered out of the islands to escape Jap capture, she was with him aboard a PT boat when they fled to Australia.
When MacArthur returned triumphly to The Philippines, Jean also returned. And when the war ended with the Jap surrender, Jean once again became his "First Lady" as he took over as the Allied Command's Military Governor of Japan. She represented him at official and social functions for the next several years, mingling with crowds of Japs on her trips around Japan during the postwar occupation.
After MacArthur was relieved of his command of United Nations troops in Korea during the Korean War, she shared in the praise heaped upon the general upon his homecoming.
Shortly before his death in 1964, the general described Jean as "...my constant friend, sweetheart and devoted supporter."
Jean was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1988 by President Ronald Reagan. It was the nation's highest civilian award at the time. "Jean MacArthur has witnessed the great cataclysms of our time, survived war and peace, conquered tragedy and known triumph," he said in making the presentation. The citation for the medal called her a shining example, a woman of substance and character, a loyal wife and mother and like her husband, a patriot.
After MacArthur died, Jean remained active in civic and philanthropic efforts. She served as honorary chairman of the MacArthur Foundation formed and headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia as a memorial to the general. The foundation developed a grand museum and burial site for him several years ago. The old Norfolk City Hall, a beautiful domed building dating from 1850 became his tomb and a center of the memorial complex.
The complex includes the Jean MacArthur Research Center which houses the general's archived records. The archives have become a significant center for research by historians from all over the world as well as a major tourist attraction.
The general's tomb and the archives are a fitting tribute to one of World War Two's most important military commanders. He was seriously considered by both the Democratic and Republican parties as a presidential candidate in 1952.
Jean was also active in theater, opera and other civic efforts. She was an avid baseball fan and once recalled seeing the Brooklyn Dodgers celebration after they defeated the New York Yankees in the 1955 World Series. When the Dodgers moved west, she became a Mets fan.
She remained a "woman-about-town in New York through the 1980's, with her name appearing in news write-ups of parties attended by the rich and famous.
Jean and Douglas had one son, Arthur, born in Manila in 1938.
Burial was at the MacArthur Tomb beside her husband in the MacArthur Memorial at Norfolk.
Survivors include her son; and a sister, Angie McCarthy, of Murfreesboro, Tn. Two older brothers died young: Frederick William Faircloth in 1937 and Richard Beard Faircloth died at age 8 in 1904. Her father died in 1929 and her mother in 1934. Both are buried at Murfreesboro, Tn.
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